Quarantine passes free of charge, Nograles reminds LGUs

MANILA, Philippines — Quarantine passes should be given to the people free of charge, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Monday as he warned local government units (LGUs) against taking advantage of the Luzon-wide lockdown due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.

“Huwag pong magbigay ng passes for a fee, or any payment whatsoever in any form or kind,” Nograles said in a “public” press briefing aired over state run PTV.

“Hindi po ‘yan for a fee, walang bayad po ‘yang mga passes na ‘yan. Huwag po nating abusuhin ‘yan at huwag po tayong magtake advantage sa calamity na ‘to,” he stressed.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday placed the entire Luzon under lockdown until April 13 amid the increasing COVID-19 cases in the country.

His order forced about half of the country’s population to stay home, only allowing one person per household to go outside to purchase basic necessities and provisions for food.

As part of their stringent measures, different local government units have started issuing community quarantine passes each household in their jurisdiction.

A quarantine pass designates a household member as representative of  in buying necessities outside. The bearer of the pass will be the only one allowed to go out.

As of Monday morning, there are 380 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country, 25 of whom have died while 17 recovered.

The Philippines has been placed under a state of calamity due to the COVID-19 crisis, allowing LGUs to access their quick response funds to battle the contagion, which was first detected in Hubei, China and has so far infected more than 290,000 and killed nearly 13,000 across 186 countries and territories.

The COVID-19 virus, considered by the World Health Organization as a pandemic, causes mild symptoms such as fever and cough for most people but can cause serious illness such as pneumonia for others, especially older adults and people with existing health problems.

To prevent infection, authorities are urging people to practice regular hand washing, cover the mouth and nose when coughing and sneezing, and avoid close contact with those who show respiratory symptoms.